A serious case of “tinselitis” is about to sweep the nation.
It happens every year, when the last of the Halloween candy is cleared from the shelves to make way for Pavlova Magic and extra large, festive-size boxes of Favourites. With every Bublé song, more and more of us become infected – and there’s no cure till Boxing Day.
Around 60 per cent of employees admit to being mentally distracted as early as mid-December, although I’d wager that number is actually higher (the rest of us are probably just less self-aware).
As Christmas cheer rises, there’s a noticeable decline in productivity. Four in 10 employees are online shopping instead of working, and a third are planning their Christmas break. It’s an expensive time to be a business owner.
You can probably see where this is heading…
Not your average goal setting article
Come January, I guarantee there’ll be a newsletter in your inbox about new year’s resolutions and goal setting. But by the second week of February, 80 per cent of resolutions have already failed. Whether it’s due to a lack of planning or setting expectations too high, the odds are against you.
If you want to be a part of the 20 per cent, there’s three things you should be doing in December.
- Reflect
- Reassess
- Realign
Reflect
In real estate, you don’t often get the benefit of spare time – but things often wind down right about now. With fewer listings coming to market and buyers departing for the holidays, your staff can probably find a spare few hours in the week.
Encourage your agents and admin staff to spend this time reviewing the year. What worked well, what didn’t? It’s been a year of firsts.
What did your agency learn through the COVID-19 pandemic? Were FaceTime inspections useful – do you want to keep doing them? Did your CRM support your staff to work from home, or were there gaps in their ability to do their job outside the physical office?
Set up 1:1 meetings to get this insight.
Reassess
Take those reflections and consider the changes that will be most impactful on your business in 2020.
If your agents found themselves wasting time driving around town to get physical signatures, for example – it’s probably time to investigate Docusign.
If your CRM system didn’t allow you, as a business owner, to see what your staff were achieving every day – reassess whether you think it’s necessary to acquire this oversight in 2021. With remote work becoming the norm, it’s probably something to prioritise.
If your pipeline isn’t looking as full as you’d like, reassess your marketing budget and consider different opportunities to build brand awareness and loyalty throughout the sales funnel.
Realign
You know what you want to achieve, so how will you get there? The first step is alignment; making sure everyone in your business buys into your vision for 2021. Then, build the infrastructure for making those changes into your systems.
For example, if you’ve assessed your brand building activities and decided to double down in 2021, spend this period of downtime creating branded templates for your agents to use.
Say you want to increase your own GCI by 20 per cent next year, but your pipeline isn’t looking too healthy, work backwards.
Break down how many listings you’ll need in each month of 2021, how many appraisals you’ll need to get those listings, how many calls you’ll need to make to get those appraisals – and then put daily reminders in your CRM system to make those calls.
It’s (almost) a new year, and that means new opportunities. Do these three things and you’ll be in a much better position to be in the 20 per cent winner’s circle by February.
